Quotes from Jamaal Bowman

No Republican vote in favor of an infrastructure package should supersede our mission: to build an America that works for the people, not for massive corporations. Getting Republicans on board is not necessary. Getting the American people back on their feet is.

Our strength as a democracy relies on voter confidence.

As legislators, it's our job to create accessible voting systems that inspire confidence in the accuracy of tabulation and verifiability of results. It's also our job to make certain that the Board of Elections has every resource they need in order to carry out that purpose.

Caregiving is almost always provided by women, and especially Black and brown women. This work has historically been made invisible, which creates opportunities for the exploitation and poverty wages many of our caregivers face without protection or recourse.

So, I started teaching in 1999 in the South Bronx.

It's important for Muslims and non-Muslims to stand together against hate in all of its forms, particularly against Islamophobia because quite often Islamophobia is almost like the forgotten '-ism' and the forgotten phobia that is always present.

Climate change is ravaging our cities - we can't just let that happen.

I was suspended and discarded. I was told to go to hell by administrators. I was placed in classes far beneath my intelligence. I even had a teacher tell me my life was ruined.

I remember being a young black kid in high school, I didn't think the establishment or the political system was for me. I didn't think the system was for me, and I know a lot of kids feel that way.

Many elected Republicans know that ensuring that people of color can vote freely would spell bad news for them and their agenda, which privileges corporations and the wealthy.

We must hire more social workers and counselors in our schools than police officers.

Roads and bridges can't serve us if they're continually eroded by a worsening climate crisis.

Being a candidate who doesn't take corporate PAC money forced me to be accountable to the people I serve and to meet them where they are.

I believe our current system of capitalism is slavery by another name.

We need to stop sending federal military equipment to local police departments.

Ending the school-to-prison pipeline is not a small task and requires detangling the myth of white superiority from our entire education system.

My number one priority is the safety of our communities, and particularly the safety of our children.

Our democracy is falling apart - we can't just let that happen.

When I look at American history, I see how it has been driven by resistance and protest against a system that has been oppressive to not just Black people but to women, to members of the LGBTQ community.

If you look throughout American history, it has been protests and mass movements and the people rising up that has moved to this country forward.

I would never try to fill John Lewis's shoes. I can only be myself - my authentic self.

If you care about social and racial justice, innovation, and humanity, become a teacher. There are amazing kids who have unlimited potential and ideas who need someone who cares about them and their learning.

Whoever becomes Education Secretary has to have a love and passion for public schools. Not charter schools, not vouchers, but public schools.

We need a Green New Deal for Public Housing, as my colleague and friend Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has proposed. We need a Green New Deal for Cities, as my friend Cori Bush has proposed. And we need a Green New Deal for Public Schools.